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2010-08-21: Girl Without a World, But Not Without A Home.
Summary: Nick Fury gets introduced to Rikki Barnes by Steve Rogers, and Rikki gets a surprise offer from Steve. Location: Steve Rogers' Brooklyn Apartment. Participants: Nomad, Captain America, Nick Fury Rating: PG for Fury-ous language. Well, Steve Rogers doesn't get too many visitors in the Brooklyn apartment he's chosen for himself, but tonight he's made a point to invite a couple particular people over. Nick probably wanted to see the place for "security concerns" anyhow, but there's some more pressing business on Steve's mind tonight than just letting SHIELD case his home. Which brings us to the young lady known as Rikki Barnes. He's hoping to help her, whether she knows it or not. Now the trick will be getting them both to agree, preferably without third-degree interrogations. In any case, he doesn't have a whole lot to entertain with, but he's set out an ashtray and a couple of beers for Nick, and managed to pick up an assortment of non-alcoholic beverages for himself and Rikki. Just don't expect him to bake cookies or anything. About five minutes before the meeting with Fury is supposed to go down, Rikki shows up. She knocks twice on the door, but doesn't exactly wait for there to be a audible answer before entering. "Hey Mr. Rogers, I'm here," she says, before blinking a few times. She's not taken to calling Steve by his first name yet, and certainly not the more familiar Cap, but she only now actually has said the 'Mr. Rogers' outloud. She grin and giggles just a little bit before clearing her throat and looking for somewhere to make herself comfortable. She spies some pop for consumption, and snatches it up, popping the top and beginning to chug in a very unladylike manner, one eye curiously studying the beer cans as she makes herself comfy. "Saw you on the news," she comments idly to Steve. "People seem pretty stoked to have you back. Myself included." SHIELD already cased Rogers' joint as soon as Nick realized he needed to let his old friend try to acclimate to a new time. No way was he gonna just chuck the guy out on the street and say 'bye'. Nope, not happenin' on Fury's watch. Ignoring the no smoking sign on the street downstairs, Nick makes his way to the apartment in question, wearing civilian clothes appropriate to the neighborhood. While he could easily take down any street thug who might want to shake him down for cash, he doesn't need the workout right now. And he's got business. And he's on time for it. He knocks and waits to be let in, because that's just polite. Not that he can't be impolite if he wants to, but this is a friend, not someone you just barge in on. And Nick knows why it's a bad idea for anyone to just barge in. And he hears voices inside, so he's pretty confident of being let in soon. "You can call me "Steve" when I'm not in costume, Rikki. I don't mind." Their host notes with a faintly bemused grin, moving towards the door and opening it to let Nick in, "Evening Nick. Someone here I'd like you to meet." He does indicate the beer and ashtray with a gesture. He knows it'd likely be futile to ask Nick -not- to smoke, and well...Steve's still used to a day and age where people could chain-smoke through their entire shift at work and nobody would likely care. "Nick Fury, this is Rikki Barnes. Rikki, Nick Fury." Of course, the last name might have some significance to Nick. Rikki looks up from her gaze at the beer, her eyes bugging out a bit at the sight of Nick Fury. They were fairly well-aquanted, as part of her SHIELD training in her home reality; here, she merely raises a hand in a still, silent wave. No need to explain that she's from another reality quite yet, though she certainly seems to be very starey. "What happened to your eye?" she asks, bluntly. Back home, Nick has a full pair, so its the first thing she can't help but notice. "Much obliged," Nick says as he helps himself to one of the beers and taps his cigar on the ashtray lightly. And both eyebrows arch up when Rikki's last name is mentioned and he catches her goggling at him. "I take it that there's a relation to your former partner, otherwise you wouldn't've pointed it out, huh?" he asks of Rogers, his voice respectful of the dead. "Took some shrapnel in the big one. World War Two," he then adds, because not many people know of the nickname for the war amongst people who lived through it. "Says she's his granddaughter. But...well, there's more to it than that." There always is, isn't it? He moves over and uncaps a coca-cola, taking a sip before frowning at it and muttering, "Doesn't taste the same..." and sets it aside for the moment, "She's from another world. A parallel reality or something of the sort, it sounds like." He adds, "One where Bucky survived, and apparently I was found a good bit sooner." "Funky," Rikki says, squinting slightly. She then glances towards Steve as he gives the basics before nodding her own head. "Back home, Grandpa Bucky and Steve were partners during the war. Cap was discovered a while later, and while he was fighting these jack-holes named the Secret Empire, I helped him out. Ever since, I was his right-hand gal, calling myself the second Bucky." She pauses to sip her soda, giving her a bit of time to collect her thoughts, frowning. "Then the Young Allies and I tried to disarm this neutron bomb that Doctor Doom had, got blown up. Figured I was long gone, until I woke up in Pennsylvania. To a world where my parents were never born, and Cap was never found." Beat, before beaming brightly. "Until recently, natch." Nick Fury gives Steve a /look/ for just a few moments. "Alternate reality, hmmph," he says, highly disliking this notion. "Next thing y'know, someone will pop in and say the Easter Bunny is real and that the Leafs won the Stanley Cup or somethin'." He takes a long drag on his stogie and regards Rikki intently, sizing her up properly as the head honcho of SHIELD ought to. "Hmph, Bucky... big shoes to fill in any reality," he acknowledges. "At least you didn't wake up in Jersey." He muses on the notion of the kid not havin' any parents anymore. "So, you two... what are your plans? You've already been on the news, Steve. Figgered you wouldn't wait to get back in action, but you'll wanna make sure you don't get talked into doin' the wrong thing because someone learns you're not up to speed on who all the various players are. Between me and Stark, we'll keep you informed of who the good guys are... and who the bad guys are. Sorry to say, the world ain't as black and white as it was back in the day." "I wasn't planning on talking to any media or meeting with anyone that I didn't vet through you, Nick. Not yet, in any case." Steve's no dummy, and even in the short time he's been back he can tell things are definitely not what they used to be. Some things are better, some things are worse, but that's neither here nor there. "Stark? I'm not familiar with the name." Hopefully Nick didn't send it in an "E-Mail...." It'd probably have a better chance of getting to Steve by regular mail first. The concept of "instant communication, constantly connected" is still well outside Steve's frame of reference. "In any case...I remembered what a great job you did of re-establishing my civilian identity and helping to get me started, so...I was hoping that I could ask a favor of you and have you do the same for Rikki." He pauses a moment, and adds, seemingly as an afterthought, "Oh, and I think it might be best if I'm appointed her legal guardian. That is, if she's agreeable to the idea." Rikki looks a bit insulted, sitting up straighter her in her chair. "Hey, I don't know why I'm here more than anyone else; I just know that I was there, there was a bright flash, and now I'm here. From what I've read in the newspaper, people seem to pop all over the place here. Even whole cities on occasion," she starts, before Steve starts explaining his plan. "A social security number would be good, right now having to be paid under the table, illegal immigrant style..." she muses, before Steve says the LG word. She blinks a few times. Blinkblinkblink. She seems unable to respond, just...stares. Disbelieving. Nick Fury had brought some paperwork with him. "Tony Stark," he announces, an actual photograph of the man paperclipped to the documentation. The folder contains strictly public information about the man, nothing that can't be found using the means at Fury's disposal. "The short version of the story is that he's a brilliant techie nerd type. Builds suits of armor. Has more money than God. He hangs out with a lot of the supertights crowd. He's interested in helping you acclimate to this time. He's also gonna be in touch to try and talk to you about liaising between my crew, SHIELD, and those yahoos in the Justice League. /You/ need to hang out with people who can keep up with you," he adds with a snort of cigar smoke. "/They/ need to hang out with a regular joe, and I'm not clean-cut enough for 'em, go figger. And I've got my own outfit to run, y'see." He flicks his one eye's gaze to Rikki. "We can set you up with an ID, that's easy. And you can help /him/ get up to speed on other stuff that's common to wherever you came from and here." "Like that Secret Empire you mentioned. I've never heard of them, but it sounds like something to look out for." Steve notes towards Rikki. Grinning a touch and looking back towards Nick, "I thought about mentioning the Legal Guardian thing to her earlier, but figured it'd be more fun to see her face when it was mentioned out of the blue." Yes, Steve -does- have a sense of humor. He takes the dossier from Fury, flipping through it a bit, "I see...." He's noncommital for now, though he'll no doubt meet with the man at Nick's recommendation. Nomad just stares at Steve a bit more, squinting. Is he joking? Or is he serious? She finally shakes it off and nods to Nick. "Sure, I can get him up to date. I taught my dad how to program our VCR and DVR, I'm sure I can teach Cap a thing or two." Pause. "I mean Steve," she corrects, then looks at the dossier of Stark. "I think he's the dude who made the Iron Man armor. Also, totally hawt." She blinks, and blushes furiously. "Holy crap, I just said that out loud didn't I?" She buries her face in her hands, making small little embarassed noises. "Yep, ya did," Nick affirms, perversely enjoying the kid's embarrassment, but he keeps most of that amusement to a glint in his eye. "Anyway, Stark's wantin' to meet ya, and if you two are going to be working together... meaning you two," he adds, gesturing with his cigar to Steve and Rikki, "it might throw a wrench into his plans for you to liaise with the supertights... but he's a big boy, he'll adjust. And yeah, he made the Iron Man armor. Damned powerful and useful, but that means all kindsa yahoos want to filch it or his designs and use 'em for their own purposes. Which is where SHIELD comes in. We help stop some of 'em. Stark's a good sort, Steve, and that's all I'll say on it. While it ain't a ringin' endorsement, cause I don't do 'em, but he's on the up and up." Steve tilts a brow at Nomad's outspoken assessment of Tony Stark's appearance, but just sort of shakes his head a bit and looks back to Nick, "I'll meet with him." Nick's assessment is good enough for him. He does look back to Rikki and smiles a touch, "Well...-working- together we'll have to discuss. But at the very least she should have somebody looking out for her." He adds, "And should get back to school..." He notes with a more pointed gaze towards the teenager. After a few more moments of being mortified teenager, Rikki looks up from her hands, her face slightly flushed as she nods her head. "Um...actually, yeah." She furrows her brow slightly, not sure how to put this. "I am actually kind of enjoying doing my own thing right now. I mean, you're still the best, I'm sure...but...well, I'm making friends and having fun." She frowns. "Wow, this is really making my time with you sound crappy. Um, what I'm saying is, if you don't need a Bucky, no offense taken!" Nick Fury eyes Steve rather pointedly. "Kid's taking on your old partner's nickname in her reality? You /really/ think you're gonna keep her tied down and outta trouble? Good luck with that, Rogers." Taking another pull on the cigar, he shrugs. "If you don't want to partner up and stuff, that's fine too." He doesn't comment on the going back to school bit. "We could always use another trained pair of hands in SHIELD," he then remarks almost absently. Not the most pushy recruitment suggestion. "No, I don't..." Steve frowns, "I mean...I don't think I'm quite...ready...for a partner." Bucky's death, for him, was a little over a couple weeks ago. A little fresh. "But that doesn't mean I'm joking about taking care of you, Rikki. At the very least you should have a place to stay that's a real home. He glances towards Nick, raising a brow, "SHIELD recruits teenagers?" "They trained me," Rikki says, before quickly adding, "Though, different time, different place." She glances towards Nick and shakes her head slightly. "I'm...not really looking to play spy though. I have a group of friends, I like doing the superhero thing..." She turns her gaze towards Steve and smiles widely. "But...I wouldn't turn down a real home." Nick Fury points to what Rikki says, but nods sympathetically to Steve. "I get where you're comin' from... but someday, yer gonna have to get back on that horse." Work now, grieve later, that's how they did it back in the day. "And yeah, we recruit anyone with the right skills and ability to handle what we do. Got a whole bucket'a zit-faced kids as interns. If they make the grade, they can sign up for real if they want. But there ain't no draft... they don't have to join up if they don't want to." His last words are pointedly directed at Rikki. "It's an option, kid, that's all. You'd still have to go through some tests to make sure whatever they teach their people where you come from's the same as here, or similar enough. Fer all I know, your SHIELD's idea of training involves underwater basket weaving." "It doesn't." Steve notes. Not that he's seen her fight, but he's seen how she moves and how she carries herself, and that's almost as good. "She can handle herself, I've no doubt of that." He adds, then looks back towards Nick, "So...SHIELD can handle the paperwork? Even if school isn't in her plans...it should at least be an option." Rikki makes a face at the mention of school. The biggest benefit of being homeless so far? No homework. Still, she nods her head a bit. "That...probably would be for the best," she admits, a bit begrudingly. "Working three half-time jobs on top of doing my heroing gig is definitely going to burn me out sooner rather than later. So yeah, having just school and then heroing duty would be a plus...I guess." Grumpy-face Rikki. "Yeah, we can handle paperwork. We got a bunch'a interns for /that/ too," Fury remarks with a scowl for one of his least favorite tasks. "And school's important," he observes after catching the typical teenage anti-school face. "Helps you figger out things like angles and none'a my eggheads got where they are without some schoolin'. You think when this yahoo flings his shield around, it's just magic how he hits his target? That there's geometry. If it's money yer worried about, that can be arranged so yer not killin' yerself just to make ends meet, just like we did for him," he adds, jerking a thumb at Steve. "SHIELD ain't exactly Daddy Warbucks, but it ain't fly by night either. We look after our own." Even if they're from another reality. Steve smiles a touch, "And here I thought it was all in the wrist." He notes, taking another sip of that coca-cola, though he's still having problems with the far-sweeter-than-he-recalls version they have now. "But yes...School would be a good idea, I think. For future options and not just immediate concerns." The mention of being taken care of financial causes Rikki to get a broad smile. "That would be...helpful, yes. And I promise to not spend it ALL on new gadgets." She then glances towards Steve and winces a bit as he reacts to the taste. "Next time, get the stuff that says 'Throwback' on it. They use real sugar, or at least a close enough facsimile to fool your tastebuds." And then her pocket is beeping. She wiggles slightly, before pulling out her pre-paid cellphone and making a face. "Speaking of financial issues, got my least favorite job coming up: janitorial duties at LexCorp tower." She stuffs the phone back in her pocket before hops to her feet. She gives a quick, practiced salute, first to Steve and then to Nick. "Gentlemen, pleasure, but I am off to mop duty. See you both on the battle field?" Her voice is clipped and professional...and perhaps more than a bit teasing to the old war dogs. Nick Fury has absolutely no comment on sissy drinks, but he smirks lopsidedly at Steve's comment about wrists. And then that smirk, edged with a CO's dislike of humor in subordinates, gets directed at Rikki. "Take care out there, kid," he says, putting her in her place. As if he ever could manage that. Steve moves to a nearby drawer, nodding at Rikki as he reaches inside, lightly tossing a small metal object...a key, to be precise...towards her, then gesturing towards one side of the apartment, "You can pick either of those two rooms for yourself. The one on the left has a pretty decent view, though." He also hands one to Nick, "It'll spare you the trouble of picking the lock or jimmying the balcony door when you want to make your dramatic entrances." He notes with a faint grin, then nods to Rikki, "I'll see you later, then?" Rikki shows those combat-trained reflexes by deftly catching the keys and nodding her head. "Yessir, I'll probably start moving my stuff in tonight if that's okay." Karolina will be sad, but...hopefully be able to see things as a step up, at least for her. She frowns inwardly, having not thought about that side of this whole arrangement until just now. "Okaybye," she says, clearly distracted by something now as she races out the door. She's going to be sooooo late. Nick Fury waits until the door is close and shakes his head. "I'm glad my kid doesn't act like that," he remarks to Steve, then remembers. "Yeah, I've got a kid of my own, if you can wrap yer noggin around that." His beer, carefully nursed the whole time, is nearly empty, but he doesn't bother getting another one. "Hard to wrap mine around it too sometimes. An old mission, I was sent in to spy on this dame, and somehow, my damn fool brother Jake was gunning for her, and she was /loving/ stringing us along. And then I got out when the mission was over." It goes unsaid that Something happened. "Didn't know she'd had a kid, much less that he was mine... Mikel's his name. She taught him to hate me," he adds with a scowl. "Crappy thing to do to a kid, iffen ya ask me. Told everyone the kid was Jake's, so I didn't think nothin' of it. Then we found out the truth, and I got him outta her clutches and away from Jake." His brother's name is still a sore spot, but Steve deserves to know. "A son? Congratu-..." Steve pauses, brow raising as Nick explains the details. That brings a shake of Steve's head, and a bit of a laugh, "Sorry Nick, I don't mean to laugh at the situation but...you have to admit, it sounds exactly like, well...-you-." Meaning fitting in all too well with the life Nick's chosen for himself. "But the boy's all right now?" That's the important part, after all. Nick Fury calls Cap a rather unprintable name, but he doesn't mean it. They're old enough friends that he can get away with it. "Yeah, he's fine. Once I got him outta his mom's clutches and let him find out the truth about me and what I did, he adapted. He's training with SHIELD somewhere," he adds lazily, although he knows exactly where and chooses not to disclose that information. "That witch was trying to use him to exact her revenge for me just doin' my job." Although some part of that job didn't /have/ to be done. Steve's not about to start criticizing Nick for -that- side of things. "Well that's good then. I'm sure he'll turn out to be a fine young man with you looking after him." Steve says quite sincerely, "In any case...I shouldn't keep you too long, and I suppose the sooner I get in touch with Stark, the better." Not that he minds operating solo at all, but having something of a more clearly defined role definitely appeals to Steve while he's still reeling from culture-shock. Nick Fury nods and polishes off that beer. "Thanks for this," he says, holding up the empty can. "We like recyclin' these things these days," he adds, setting the can down on an appropriate surface, shrugging at the green movement's ideals, but never really been much of a litterer to begin with. "I'm hopin' that you knowing you've got some backup might help. You already got my number, and that's a direct line, so don't be handin' that out. I do /not/ need random people callin' me with stupid stuff." Puffing contentedly on his stogie, he says the one thing that he always thinks when he considers his old friend. "Damn, it's good to have you here. Even if you look too young," he adds with a mock-growl. "Ain't fair, but that's life. Call me if you need anything, Steve. I'll talk to ya later." And with a proffered handshake, he gets ready to get back to work. Category:Logs